Connect the Dots

It is not an easy process when you're trying to get the most updated information about blood cancer. Taking on this particular article was like a maze to find the simplest answers to my questions, like: "Where does blood cancer truly rank on the scale of not-so-nice cancers?"

Believe me, it's not a contest and there are no trophies when looking for the right answers. However, it does help explain what this is about to those who are not in the know. My eyes have been opened to so many areas when learning about multiple myeloma and other blood-related conditions.

What’s in a term?

I have a vodcast and during an interview this year and found myself tongue-tied using a few terms that may not have been the best. I was asking myself, “Well exactly what is the best term?"

Hum, it’s the infamous connect the dots. Is it this or is it that? I know when multiple myeloma was spoken from the mouth of my doctor, I had to dissect the word to figure some things out.

• I knew that an “oma” may not be a good thing in whatever they were trying to explain which was a failure in the initial phases of diagnoses.
• When they say “long term” what does that mean exactly? When they say “remission” is that a good thing?

Some words are triggers

Frankly, there are a bunch of trigger words that mean one thing for some people, and another for others. Shouldn’t we all be on the same page?

The lines are not quite straight, which leads to additional questions. Often you come to realize that some of those questions can linger for years. That should not be the case, and the game of connecting the dots begins.

Going in a circle

You can most definitely feel like you’re going in circles from one end and back to the starting point, and there may be a variety of reasons for that starting with:

• Finding the right doctor
• Clarity and transparency in diagnosis
• Watch and Wait…What is that?
• Staging Breakdown

Maybe it's an oval, not a circle

These questions are part of the initial stage after diagnosis, but most don’t get the full answers and this is where that "going in an oval" comes into play. A long stretch for the truth and accuracy, and sometimes there are a few curveballs that don’t follow the script. Hence again we play the game of connecting the dots.

Game fatigue

To a patient, diagnosis can feel like an ongoing puzzle. It takes some moments of quiet to sit in the "what and how" in order to move forward to the next and best steps of piecing everything you need together.

Again, there will be questions and there will always be questions throughout your journey. It can be very tiring figuring so many areas out like, "Is this the best doctor for me?" "Should I change my diet with these new medications?" "Will I be in a lot of pain, and if so for how long?"

The answers come in spurts for the most part, but just as your new time with beating blood cancer comes into play; you eventually connect the dots of becoming comfortable with these floating pieces.

The time to fight is now, with integrity, grace, hope, and a smile….when you feel like it